According to the Crown Prosecution Service, seven of the eight chargees, Coulson and Brooks inclusive, “will be charged with conspiring to intercept communications without lawful authority, from 3 October 2000 to 9 August 2006. The communications in question are the voicemail messages of well-known people and/or those associated with them.” Coulson and Brooks have also been accused of misdeeds relating to the voicemail of abducted British student Milly Dowler, The Guardian reports. According to The New York Times, Brooks’s charges in particular “carry a maximum jail sentence of two years.”

Both deposed News Corp. editors released statements asserting their innocence, saying, “I am not guilty of these charges. I did not authorise, nor was I aware of, phone hacking under my editorship. I am distressed and angry that the CPS have reached this decision when they knew all the facts and were in a position to stop the case at this stage,” (Brooks); and “I am extremely disappointed by the CPS decision today. I will fight these allegations when they eventually get to court,” (Coulson).